Digital Business: Cloud Computing, Emerging Theories & Practices

This report critically evaluates the role of cloud computing in digital business, examining its impact on business environments and the challenges faced by managers. It begins by explaining cloud computing, its importance, and its development, highlighting the technologies and platforms used, such as virtualization, serverless computing, and artificial intelligence. The report discusses the various types of businesses and organizations that utilize cloud computing, emphasizing its effectiveness as a business tool by reducing IT costs and improving data security and employee flexibility. Examples like Unilever and Morrisons illustrate practical applications. Furthermore, the report explores the relationship between digital technology and emerging theories of business and management structures, focusing on communication channels and omnichannel practices. The conclusion emphasizes that cloud computing is a revolutionary technique for gathering, storing, and using information effectively, solving numerous business issues.

Digital Business & New
Technologies

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Explanation and importance of cloud computing .......................................................................4
Development of this topic ...........................................................................................................5
Detailed description of technology used for cloud computing ...................................................5
Technological platforms and software used in cloud computing ...............................................6
Types of businesses and organisation uses cloud computing .....................................................7
Effectiveness of cloud computing as a business tool...................................................................7
Nature of the relationship between digital technology on emerging theories of business and
management structures as well as practices ................................................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Digital businesses use differential technologies for creating new values for improvising
operational processes, customer experiences and intrinsic capabilities (Kreutzer, Neugebauer and
Pattloch, 2017). This is a broader term which encompasses digital brands as well as traditional
enterprises which are keenly making transformation towards digital technologies. Cloud
computing can be described as a process which essentially comprises of delivery hosted services
over the internet. It is used by organisations for storing diverse data of their customers in order to
create efficient relationship with them. For better understanding of differential aspects related to
cloud computing, various examples of different companies is taken into consideration.
This project critically evaluates the role of present and future technology which have
their impact on business environment. This project report also encompasses an understanding of
importance of new and digital technologies in a dynamic business environment and various
challenges that are present to managers.

MAIN BODY
Explanation and importance of cloud computing
Cloud computing can be understood as a practice whereby data and information is
assessed as well as stored over the internet (Luz Martín‐Peña, Díaz‐Garrido and Sánchez‐López,
2018). It is considered as an on-demand availability of computing services such as servers,
networking and database.
Cloud computing is considered as an important aspect due to emergence of data
prioritization in every field. However it is not easy for small business to install expensive IT
infrastructures for storing and assimilating information. Cloud computing has proved its
significance through harnessing small establishments having limited resources by providing
access to them for using varied technologies.
There are mainly four types of cloud services which businesses can adopt as per their
needs and capabilities. Private cloud is developed for a one specific organisation and is owned as
well as governed by only them (Chaffey, Edmundson-Bird and Hemphill, 2019). In community
cloud, resources and access to information is provided for a specified society. Public cloud
system is designed specifically for the transactions related to business to consumers and is
operated and governed by an establishment or government. Hybrid cloud system is used for the
purpose of B2B and B2C transactions and are bound by differential clouds together.
It is important for organisations as it benefits in improving the performance level as well
it also aids in secure the data in an effective manner. This software is easy to use and also
provide instant updates for modifying its different features (Ismagilova and Et. Al., 2017).
Development of this topic
Cloud computing has been invented by Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider while working on
its network called Advanced Research Projects Agency Network and abbreviated as ARPANET.
With the emergence of virtualisation era, whereby virtual private networks are evolved as a
rentable service by organisations. Use of virtual computing aspects led to the rise of modern
cloud computing infrastructures. Later, this practice gained immense popularity as understanding
of provides services and usefulness are evolved significantly. For example, Salesforce has
developed software of cloud computing and can be assessed by companies as on-demand and as
well as cost-effective manner. Later in 2002, when Amazon introduced their web-based retail

platform and uses cloud computing infrastructure for gaining flexibility in their operations. In
2006, Amazon has launched its own designed cloud computing software known as Amazon web
services. Strategists of Amazon has developed two sites for effective use of its web services,
namely, Mechanical Truck and Elastic Compute Cloud (Foote K. D, A Brief History of Cloud
Computing. 2021). This allows them to rent their virtual networks to organisations for
assimilating and storing their diversified information. For instance other companies such as
Amazon, Microsoft and Open Stack has developed efficient private cloud computing software.
In 2011, IBM has its own designed cloud computing software known as IBM Smart Cloud. Later
in that year, Apple has launched ICloud and Microsoft has started to perform extensive
advertising through print as well as electronic media of their cloud computing services. In 2012,
Oracle has introduced Oracle Cloud which essentially offers three basic services for
infrastructure, platform and software. This are the companies which are continually bringing
more modified versions of their cloud computing services for simplifying the processes of
establishments as well as gaining the profitability. However service providers of cloud
computing infrastructure needs to work on its security concerns.
Detailed description of technology used for cloud computing
Cloud computing is considered as a next generation technology which is essentially based
on varied networks and use of internet services (Remane and Et. Al., 2017). Few technologies
that are used by service providers of cloud computing infrastructure in its creation are discussed
below: Virtualisation- It can be described as a practice of sharing specified license keys among
differential users. Main motive of this exercise is to provide standard version in relation
to cloud computing services to clients (Svahn and Et. Al., 2017). Under hardware
visualisation, a virtual machine is connected with hardware servers which helps
organisations to control that easily. Storage virtualisation can be understood as an
exercise of gathering diverse physical information from differential network storage
servers. Serverless- In traditional computing IT professionals face struggles with handling of
critical and sophisticated software as well as hardware provisioning (Popkova and Gulzat,
2019). However, emergence of serverless computing aids strategists to scale up the

demands of their establishment. It also aids in making cloud computing aspects and
servers to run fast as well as work in an effective manner.
 Artificial intelligence- It is one of the most effective used technology in designing the
cloud computing services for different establishments. However, it is not easy for small
businesses to design cloud computing using the complexities of artificial intelligence.
These establishments uses cloud computing solutions for computing as well as storing
diverse information of their customers and employees.
Technological platforms and software used in cloud computing
There are various providers which has developed cloud based computing for making the
business operations as well as processes simpler and faster (Şimşek and Et. Al., 2022). Various
establishments uses different technology and softwares for developing their cloud computing
infrastructure which are discussed below: Amazon web services- Amazon provides varied infrastructure-as-a-service cloud which
offers a diverse stacks such as computing, storing, networking and many more. Amazon
mainly offers two kinds of on-demand services namely, Elastic Compute Cloud which is
abbreviated as (EC2) and Simple Storage Services commonly known as S3. EC2
essentially provides virtual hardware on the basis of customized manner. It also offers an
in-built feature whereby users are allowed to deploy their own templates. Whereas, S3
has the ability to store those templates and provide persistent storage on users demand. Microsoft Azure- Is is described as a cloud operating system as well as a platform
whereby users can develop varied applications (Peng, 2017). Under this, a scalable
runtime is provided for the development of web application. Cloud based computing
infrastructure that is offered by Microsoft Azure also provides varied other services such
as networking, content delivery, assimilating information and many more.
 Hadoop- It is an implementation of Map Reduce which is a programming language
model developed by Google. This Apache Hadoop is sponsored by Yahoo and also
considers as an integral part. It essentially provides modernised way of cloud computing
infrastructures to various organisations. It is a ready -to-use cloud computing platform
which is used by establishments in an easy and effective manner.

Types of businesses and organisation uses cloud computing
Cloud computing is used in almost every field whether it is a business or non-profit
organisation. It is essentially used in health care, education sectors, government, communication,
business processes and many more. In health care sector, professionals use it to host information
of their patients so that it can be used in remote basis. It allows medical practitioners in treating
their patients in an effective manner. Cloud computing is also considered as a crucial aspect in
education centres for the purpose of distance learning (Kotarba, 2018). Educational institutions
use this service for improving their efficiency and productivity. Even this is very useful for
political purpose as it essentially helps in incorporating social and analytical technology. In
corporate sector, cloud computing software helps in generating varied leads and extensively used
for the purpose of managing documentation, assimilating large data, customer relationship
management and many more. Numerous establishments have an easy access to software as a
service which is considered as a vital source.
In UK, varied small as well as large corporations used cloud computing services either by
renting or collaborating with the service providers. For example, Unilever has entered into a
partnership contract with Google to harness their cloud computing services as well as big data
technologies in order to make their supply chain more competitive in a dynamic environment.
This project has aim to simplify their complex supply chain operations towards a transparent
processes. Another example of Morrisons have been taken which collaborates with Amazon
Connect which is cloud-based centre that assists them in automated interactions. Before that,
Morrisons have also took help of Amazon Lex which help customers to find their supported and
convenience stores.
Effectiveness of cloud computing as a business tool
Cloud computing is considered as a vital tool for making the businesses processes
effective. At hospitals, cloud computing helps the medical professionals to ensure that their
patients receive their best care without any sort of disruptions. Cloud computing infrastructures
is effective for businesses as it helps in reducing IT costs which incurs through procuring
expensive infrastructure. Through this businesses can store big files and extract data as per their
convenience. This also helps them to perform their operations in an effective manner. Using free
cloud services helps businesses to invest their important sources in significant processes rather
than incurring extra costs. This practice also help in securing their data in an effective manner

and also protects it from any theft or disaster. Apart from management, it also help employees in
work in a more flexible environment. As through this, they can work at their home in a flexible
manner as they have access to information and data while working on a remote basis. For
example, it is an effective business tool for Unilever as it aids them to store and assimilate
diverse information of their suppliers, customers and employees in order to get ease of workings.
Nature of the relationship between digital technology on emerging theories of business and
management structures as well as practices
Cloud computing infrastructure help establishments in a significant way as it has helped
in creating proper communication channels which are crucial for the success of an organisation.
It also help in creating an omnichannel practice whereby organisations can gather and assimilate
diversified information of their customers which further help them to create a connection with
them. Use of cloud computing has changed the earlier traditional processes of organisations
where they have to assimilate the varied information in big manual files. Apart from this,
organisational managers needs to procure and install the whole IT infrastructure which is an
expensive aspect. Visualisation and use of digital technology for transforming the varied
business operations have came an impact of cloud computing. It is an effective tool which assist
in maintaining the management structures and practices in an efficient manner.
CONCLUSION
From the above presented information, it has been concluded that emergence of adoption
of new and advanced technologies in business operations is considered as a revolutionary. Cloud
computing is a technique which helps in gathering, storing and using the desired information in
an effective manner. It has solved many issues of businesses in a significant manner such as high
cost of IT infrastructure, scalability and flexibility in operations. There are many service
providers which makes this expensive tool as cost-effective for establishments. These service
providers are Apple, Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft and many more.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Kreutzer, R. T., Neugebauer, T. and Pattloch, A., 2017. Digital business leadership. Digital
Transformation–Geschäftsmodell-Innovation–agile Organisation–Change-Management.
Luz Martín‐Peña, M., Díaz‐Garrido, E. and Sánchez‐López, J. M., 2018. The digitalization and
servitization of manufacturing: A review on digital business models. Strategic
Change. 27(2). pp.91-99.
Chaffey, D., Edmundson-Bird, D. and Hemphill, T., 2019. Digital business and e-commerce
management. Pearson UK.
Ismagilova, L. A. and Et. Al., 2017. Digital business model and smart economy sectoral
development trajectories substantiation. In Internet of Things, Smart Spaces, and Next
Generation Networks and Systems (pp. 13-28). Springer, Cham.
Remane, G. and Et. Al., 2017. Discovering digital business models in traditional
industries. Journal of Business Strategy.
Svahn, F. and Et. Al., 2017. Mastering the digital innovation challenge. MIT Sloan Management
Review. 58(3). p.14.
Popkova, E. G. and Gulzat, K., 2019, May. Technological revolution in the 21 st century: digital
society vs. artificial intelligence. In Institute of Scientific Communications
Conference (pp. 339-345). Springer, Cham.
Şimşek, T. and Et. Al., 2022. A journey towards a digital platform business model: A case study
in a global tech-company. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 175.
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Peng, Y., 2017. Affective networks: How WeChat enhances Tencent’s digital business
governance. Chinese Journal of Communication. 10(3). pp.264-278.
Kotarba, M., 2018. Digital transformation of business models. Foundations of
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Online:
Foote K. D, A Brief History of Cloud Computing. 2021 [Online] Available through
<https://www.dataversity.net/brief-history-cloud-computing/#>